Career ambitions 'already limited by age of seven'

By the age of seven, children are already facing limits on their future aspirations in work, according to a report from the OECD international economics think tank.

Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's director of education and skills, says "talent is being wasted" because of ingrained stereotyping about social background, gender and race.

He is backing a project from the Education and Employers careers charity to give children a wider understanding of the range of jobs available.

Social mobility barriers

Mr Schleicher says children have begun making assumptions about what type of people will enter different types of work while they are still in primary school.

There are only "minimal changes" in attitudes towards career options between the ages of seven and 17, says the report produced jointly by the OECD and Education and Employers.

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